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Executive staff

John Hewko

General Secretary

Rotary Club of Kyiv

Ukraine

John Hewko is the general secretary of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. From 2004 to 2009, Hewko was vice president for operations and compact development for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government agency established in 2004 to deliver foreign assistance to the world’s poorest countries.

David Alexander

General Manager & Chief Communications Officer

David Alexander leads a team of communications professionals who work alongside clubs to tell Rotary's story. He directs global communications efforts in 10 languages, developing regional public relations campaigns and overseeing Rotary's website, The Rotarian magazine, and 30+ regional magazines. In 2013 Alexander's team earned a PR News Platinum PR Award for its work on the End Polio Now campaign.

Alexander has 20 years of communications experience. Before Rotary, he directed media efforts at the National Safety Council, the leading safety advocacy organization in the U.S., and worked in public relations for Apple Inc.

Michele Berg

General Manager & Chief Programs and Member Services Officer

Rotary Club of Evanston

Illinois, USA

Michele Berg manages more than 150 employees in functions that support Rotary members, including education and training, Rotary grants and programs, international meetings, support for clubs and districts, Rotary coordinators, membership engagement, and the Contact Center.

Berg has worked for Rotary for more than 15 years, most recently in the field of education and training. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a major in Italian. Berg earned her MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a dual specialization in marketing and international business. Berg is a Paul Harris Fellow.

Joe Brownlee

General Manager & Chief Strategy Officer

Rotary Club of Evanston

Illinois, USA

Joe Brownlee plans and coordinates strategic initiatives at Rotary International. He joined Rotary in 2004 as its general auditor and has since held the positions of strategic planning manager and global launch manager for Rotary’s streamlined grant model.

Brownlee holds a bachelor of science in business administration and accounting from the University of South Carolina. In 1986, he received a college scholarship from the Rotary Club of Beaufort. Brownlee volunteers with several charities for children.

Lori O. Carlson

General Manager & Chief Financial Officer

Lori O. Carlson oversees all aspects of the financial operations of Rotary International and its charitable arm, The Rotary Foundation, which have combined revenues exceeding $400 million and almost $1 billion in assets. Her responsibilities include financial management, financial planning and analysis, treasury and investment, corporate reporting, accounting services, insurance, risk management, and procurement.

Carlson graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, with a degree in business administration, and she earned an MBA-finance degree from Southern Methodist University’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business in Dallas, Texas.

Peter Markos

General Manager & Chief Information Officer

Peter Markos leads a global team of more than 130 men and women who are responsible for Rotary’s data processing, facilities, printing and distribution, and travel operations as well as all of the organization’s technology needs. He helped establish the organization’s Information Technology Development Center in Pune, India.

Markos graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in economics, and has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Markos is a Paul Harris Fellow.

John Osterlund

General Manager & Chief Development Officer

Rotary Club of Evanston Lighthouse

Illinois, USA

John Osterlund oversees the fundraising operations of The Rotary Foundation.

He graduated with a degree in political science from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, and was awarded a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to study at the University of Stockholm. Osterlund received his master's degree in history education from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

He is a Paul Harris Fellow and a Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation.

Steven Routburg

General Counsel

Steven Routburg and his staff counsel the leadership of Rotary International, The Rotary Foundation, and the Secretariat staff on a wide range of issues about law and legal and corporate policy. Legal Services also supports the organization’s Council on Legislation and manages the grant stewardship function for The Rotary Foundation.

Routburg joined Rotary’s staff in 1996 and has been general counsel since 1999. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and received his undergraduate business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Routburg is a Paul Harris Fellow.